Brutus Aquila
Centurion Brutus Aquila (his title being Brutus of Denver) is a high ranking centurion of Caesar's Legion. He was born into the Hangdogs tribe in 2247. In 2277, the tribe fought Caesar to avoid assimilation and Brutus stood out as he directed hordes of dogs to take out the Legion. His show of strength in battle caught the attention of Caesar and was spared of death. Instead, he was given a special place in the middle of battle to lead his own personal horde of dogs. This would get him much respect and promotion in the Legion to the point of becoming a centurion. For his show of skill, he was placed in Legate Jigatahi’s Legion to assist in the conquest of Boise. History Brutus was born into the Hangdogs tribe in 2247. He was raised as a keeper of dogs (like many of his tribe). By the age of twelve, he proved to be a very effective warrior given his age. This would make him soon become one of the strongest warriors in the tribe by 2261. This was not just his strength but the way he commanded his dogs. During battle, his horde of dogs would surround him, walk with him, and follow his every command. Training them to be fast and cunning, the dogs tore apart entire groups of enemies in battle before they could try and fight them. They also acted as distractions; swarming and overwhelming an enemy as Aquila moved to strike them with his personal combat knife. His strength would be shown when the tribe fought the Legion in 2277. Though it was evident that the tribe would be broken as the Legion burned their dogs, Brutus inflicted the Legion by ripping apart a group of eight Legionnaires with his dogs and personally killing three during battle. When his tribal elders ordered their surrender, Brutus went before a legion Centurion himself and simply knelt while telling all nine remaining dogs (currently having twelve) to sit as he said: “How may I serve this Legion?”. Seeing his potential in battle, tearing apart Legionnaires with only dogs, the Centurion reported Brutus to Caesar. Caesar responded by granting him with special training. While the other males of his tribe were simply deemed hound keepers, Brutus was to be placed in battle to lead his dogs. In 2278, Brutus was given the rank of Decanus and headed a squad of men to Denver with the goal of capturing dogs. They were attacked by a horde of almost twenty dogs. Brutus identified which were the mothers and alpha males. Two attacked him, one of which he cut the head off of and the other he stabbed in the side as his own dog took it down at the neck. He had shown his might when he slayed the dogs, a gift that was taught more than ten years ago and has only improved. For the great numbers of dogs taken from Denver, Brutus was soon given the title of Denver. In the final months of 2278, Brutus came upon a primitive tribal village in New Mexico while his unit of eight (counting him) was patrolling for a tribe of cannibals after reports from the locals in the region. The village, consisting of about forty tribals, was nothing more than a number of crude shacks. It was revealed that they were the cannibals after seeing the tribals feasting on human flesh. His explorer was dispatched to the nearest Centurion to ask for permission to engage and exterminate them all being cannibals and nothing more to him. In less than three hours the explorer returned that night. Permission was given and informed him that an extra unit of soldiers were en route to assist. But Brutus immediately began the attack. His fifteen dogs charged in with him and attacked. Meanwhile, his men burned the village and made sure stragglers did not escape. The tribal chief was stronger than first thought, wielding a knife that was forged of human bone. He had three of his dogs attack. One bit his hand, disarming him while the other two went for a leg and side. Brutus tied the chief in rope while his mongrels searched and killed the others. In an hour, the settlement was on fire and only thirteen tribals remained as prisoners. Only one legionnaire was injured by a cut but would recover. Brutus told the tribal chief that he would be an “example to the scum of New Mexico” and had him crucified over the fire, where the flames burned the flesh of his feet but was not enough to light him on fire. Five of the tribals were thrown into the fire and the last few were also crucified. They then rested and then came the Legion reinforcements led by the centurion. Seeing this outstanding victory of eight to forty (though they were simply tribals) and his use of this settlement as an example to the region, he caught Caesar's attention once again and was promoted to Centurion for his show of faith, service, strength, and ability to the Legion. When 2279 came, Brutus was sent with fifteen men to Utah with the task of eliminating regional warlords. When they first arrived, one certain warlord led his army to attack the Legion head-on. Ambushed from mountainous terrain, Brutus led a strategic retreat. One man was killed with three wounded. The overwhelming numbers of the enemy was a surprise. The enemy would follow them and decide to attack once again. However, this time the raiders did not have the luck for such terrain and then experienced the might of the Legion. Brutus, with three of his best men and his horde of sixteen dogs, charged at the enemy as they came under fire from the rest of the Legion at their camp. The dogs, covered in metal armor, were not able to be stopped. The mongrels began to tear at the filthy raiders and Brutus followed by slashing one after the other with his machete. The raider party of thirty-six was exterminated except three that were attempting to escape. One was the leader and first refused speaking with Brutus. His opinion changed when he witnessed one of those three have his chest ripped open and his heart pulled out and the other have his head cut off and mauled by the dogs. The leader was stripped from the soles of his feet and his shoes taken with the “task” of informing his leader to kill themselves before Brutus once he arrives. The raider retreated into the desert screaming all of the way. In two days Brutus and fifteen of his men arrived at the remains of a highway patrol station. This was the warlords HQ with men surrounding it. The warlord personally came out, with ten armed men behind him, and cut the throat of the one party leader that lost to Brutus, claiming “he would not accept defeat to a primitive tribe”. At that moment Brutus charged forward and commanded his dogs to attack the raiders. Five of the Legionnaires rained spears on them. The rest attacked head-on. The warlord was captured and tied in rope and proceeded to eliminate the raiders. Within an hour the raiders (who were superior in numbers) had been defeated with a majority killed and seven crucified. Inside the patrol station jail cells was a merchant and two settlers. Given the fact that the settlers (who had not come from some tribal settlement) had been successful in a nearby settlement they had been kidnapped from and the merchant was also quite good at his job, Brutus let them free as long as the merchant remained friendly to the Legion and the settlement pay tribute to the Legion. With these “diplomatic” successes while completing the destruction of the warlord, Brutus returned home with a personal “well done” from Caesar himself. Quotes Category:Caesar's Legion Category:Idaho